| WEEK # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Introduction | No Readings |
| 2 |
Epidemiology of Sperm Counts |
Carlsen, E., A. Giwercman, et al. "Evidence for Decreasing Quality of Semen During Past 50 Years." British Medical Journal 305, no. 6854 (1992): 609–13. Saidi, J. A., D. T. Chang, et al. "Declining Sperm Counts in the United States? A Critical Review." The Journal of Urology 161, no. 2 (1999): 460–62. |
| 3 |
Spermatogenic Cycle |
Van Pelt, A. M., and D. G. De Rooij. "Synchronization of the Seminiferous Epithelium After Vitamin A Replacement in Vitamin A-deficient Mice." Biology of Reproduction 43, no. 3 (1990): 363–7. Franca, L. R., T. Ogawa, et al. "Germ Cell Genotype Controls Cell Cycle During Spermatogenesis in the Rat." Biology of Reproduction 59, no. 6 (1998): 1371–7. |
| 4 |
Male-biased Mutation Rates |
Miyata, T., H. Hayashida, et al. "Male-driven Molecular Evolution: A Model and Nucleotide Sequence Analysis." Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 52 (1987): 863–7. Venn, O., I. Turner, et al. "Strong Male Bias Drives Germline Mutation in Chimpanzees." Science 344, no. 6189 (2014): 1272–5. |
| 5 |
Germ Line Selection |
Malter, H., J. Iber, et al. "Characterization of the Full Fragile X Syndrome Mutation in Fetal Gametes." Nature Genetics 15, no. 2 (1997): 165–9. Goriely, A., G. McVean, et al. "Gain-of-function Amino Acid Substitutions Drive Positive Selection of FGFR2 Mutations in Human Spermatogonia." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences United States of America 102, no. 17 (2005): 6051–6. |
| 6 |
Meiotic Recombination |
Pecina, A., K. N. Smith, et al. "Targeted Stimulation of Meiotic Recombination." Cell 111, no. 2 (2002): 173–84. Grey, C., P. Barthes, et al. "Mouse PRDM9 DNA-binding Specificity Determines Sites of Histone H3 Lysine 4 Trimethylation for Initiation of Meiotic Recombination." PLoS Biology 9, no. 10 (2011): e1001176. |
| 7 |
Field Trip to the Whitehead Institute | No Assigned Readings |
| 8 |
Chromosome Segregation |
Lattao, R., S. Bonaccorsi, et al. "Giant Mitotic Spindles in Males from Drosophila Species with Giant Sperm Tails." Journal of Cell Science 125, no. 3 (2012): 584–8. Close, R., J. Bell, et al. "Spermatogenesis and Synaptonemal Complexes of Hybrid Petrogale (Marsupialia)." Journal of Heredity 87, no. 2 (1996): 96–107. |
| 9 |
Review Midterms | No Assigned Readings |
| 10 |
Transcription and Chromatin State During Spermatogenesis |
Levine, M., C. Jones, et al. "Novel Genes Derived from Noncoding DNA in Drosophila Melanogaster are Frequently X-linked and Exhibit Testisbiased Expression." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences United States of America 103, no. 26 (2006): 9935–9. Soumillon, M., A. Necsulea, et al. "Cellular Source and Mechanisms of High Transcriptome Complexity in the Mammalian Testis." Cell Reports 3, no. 6 (2013): 2179–90. |
| 11 |
Adaptive Evolution of Sperm Proteins |
Wyckoff, G. J., W. Wang, et al. "Rapid Evolution of Male Reproductive Genes in the Descent of Man." Nature 403, no. 6767 (2000): 304–9. Torgerson, D. G., R. J. Kulathinal, et al. "Mammalian Sperm Proteins are Rapidly Evolving: Evidence of Positive Selection in Functionally Diverse Genes." Molecular Biology and Evolution 19, no. 11 (2002): 1973–80. |
| 12 |
Sperm Cooperation |
Moore, H., K. Dvorakova, et al. "Exceptional Sperm Cooperation in the Wood Mouse." Nature 418, no. 6894 (2002): 174–7. Fisher, H., and H. Hoekstra. "Competition Drives Cooperation Among Closely Related Sperm of Deer Mice." Nature 463, no. 7282 (2010): 801–3. |
| 13 |
Sperm Competition |
Moore, H., M. Martin, et al. "No Evidence for Killer Sperm or other Selective Interactions Between Human Spermatozoa in Ejaculates of Different Males in Vitro." Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences 266, no. 1436 (1999): 2343–50. Pitnick, S., G. Miller, et al. "Males' Evolutionary Responses to Experimental Removal of Sexual Selection." Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences 268, no. 1471 (2001): 1071–80. |
| 14 |
Student Presentations | No Assigned Readings |